dreamgenii Winners!

Random.org chose #10 and #8

#10:

Amanda & Joel said...

Oh man, I need one of these so badly! I'm 24 weeks pregnant now and sleep with 3 pillows... sigh. Getting comfortable at night and the darn heartburn are the biggest pet peeves of mine!

#8:

Cattherine said...

My biggest pet peeve is how hard it can be to get pregnant and stay pregnant. We are working on #2, and have been for awhile, after a loss last year. I envy people who get to be concerned about constipation and the like.

E-mail me at babys_mama1 "at" yahoo.com with your address to claim your prize! Congratulations and to those who entered but didn't win...stay tuned as more fun reviews and giveaways are lined up!

Hot, Hot, HOT!

Boy,
am I ever glad
we put the air conditioners in on Sunday!

Lost Stuff

It's going to be HOT this week so today I've been working on organizing the bedrooms and office so that we are able to put our window air conditioner units in. How lucky those of you who have central air are...not having to pull out the heavy units in fall or put them back in each year. We are sticking them in a bit earlier this year because not only is it fore casted to be 90 degrees tomorrow but also because with Jacob going through chemo he seems to be much more sensitive to the heat and humidity. Last week when it became humid he complained of feeling dizzy and having a headache. Better have those air conditioners ready for the heat tomorrow. Which reminds me, I also better get the van to the mechanic soon to get the air fixed in it - Jacob won't do well on those long car rides this summer in the heat.

Back to the organizing which I was doing in the bedrooms. I was able to find two grocery bags of garbage to throw away: broken toys, pieces of paper, holey socks. I realized a long time ago that I am tired of all this stuff but never went full force to get rid of it all. Don't get me wrong, when we have garage sales I manage to fill 9 huge boxes with items and sell almost all of it, which clears out some things. I take bags to Goodwill or bags of items to my aunt's consignment shop to sell but there is still so much stuff that is driving me crazy.

As June arrives next week so will the beginning of my minimalist journey. I am paring down our items and getting rid of things that we don't truly need or love. I'm going to take photos of the boxes and bags that we get rid of and will be posting about my progress. My goal (which has to be realistic) is getting one garbage bag of stuff out of the house per week, as long as it takes until we are in our happy place. Wish me luck!

Fun At Half Price Books

P.S. Don't forget to sign up for the pregnancy giveaway that ends soon!

Boys Will Be Boys

Despite Jacob having an invasive surgery, radiation, and now 30 weeks of chemo...
He is still a boy! While he tires out more easily, gets out of breath quicker...
He is still a boy! Kicking balls around, running in the lush grass, because...
Boys will be boys, after all!

Gender Neutral Experiment

Surely by now you've heard about the couple who is raising their child gender neutral. It's been all over the news lately but if you are one of the few who hasn't you can read more about it here.

I found the article interesting and I agree with the parents to some degree. But I think they have crossed the line from making their children comfortable with who they are to making them uncomfortable with who they want to be.

Witterick and Stocker have two older boys who know they are boys but are allowed to follow the beat of their own drum. The youngest child, named Storm, has a gender that is only known by a few...otherwise he/she is completely gender neutral. The parents do not want the child to be defined by their gender.

As a parent to a boy who likes to dress up with his sister's dress up clothes, wear my shoes all around the house, and get his toe nails painted, I agree that a child should not be judged by what they like to do or play with. Boys can appreciate pretty things and girls can rough it up and play sports, climb trees, and wrestle with the best of the boys.

The parents experiment seems to already be going awry because while their oldest boy chooses to wear pink, grow his hair long and wear it in braids he also noted in the article that he doesn't like to be asked his gender and doesn't like the kids to make fun of him. He seems to be confused on how he wants to be viewed. What will it be like in a few years as he gets older?

Because while these parents want to agree or not, males and females were created differently for a purpose. Men are just naturally physically stronger than females. Females are typically more nurturing. Men are more silent while women like to chatter. The list could go on and on. Men and women are not equal but are great in their own respect. A man can have a maternal instinct or a woman can be a body builder but they still view themselves as a man or woman. By choosing not to proclaim the gender of their third child they are doing exactly what they are trying to avoid: making the gender the all important aspect. By hiding the child's gender they are not proclaiming to their boys that they should be who they want to be...they are instead pointing out that parts of yourself should be hidden in order to be accepted by the world. But they did find a way to get a whole lot of attention!

Pregnant AND Comfortable?

Those two words just don't go together very well, especially when describing the morning sickness of the first trimester or the bulkiness of the third. One of my biggest complaints during pregnancy was trying to get comfortable enough to sleep at night.

I wish I had heard of the dreamgenii three years ago when I was pregnant with Joe. With back pain and feeling much like a beached whale while trying to position myself in bed I got very little sleep.

dreamgenii wants all pregnant women out there to know that there are ways to make your pregnancy more comfortable. They sent one of their pillows to prove their point.
My disclaimer is that I am not pregnant (though with the help of chocolate and ice cream I suppose I could appear that way at times!). I well remember the feeling of being pregnant though so am basing my review on that.

First of all, I love the back support cushion. This is something that is helpful to me now as ever since my first pregnancy I get back pain. With my knees positioned on the pillow and the back support I find that this pillow reduces my back pain...so I imagine it would do wonders for pregnancy induced back aches and pains as well.

The pillow is neither too hard nor too soft. Throughout my previous pregnancies I used one of those large body pillows that can be bought at Wal-Mart but found it too squishy and soft to be of much help. Plus, unlike those giant body pillows this pillow is more compact while still being supportive. It also allows you to roll over in bed along with the pillow, instead of making you reposition it each time you need to move. Total bonus there!

We all know that side sleeping is the ideal position for a pregnant woman and this pillow promotes that position, while making it more comfortable to do so.
It is useful for after pregnancy as a feeding support pillow. And as I'm finding out...can make sleeping more comfortable when you aren't even pregnant.

Ready to get one of your own? Check out dreamgenii or leave a comment stating your biggest pregnancy peeve. Two lucky readers will win a dreamgenii of their own! Earn an extra entry or two by tweeting or putting this post up on your Facebook (and leave an extra comment telling me you did so). Winners will be drawn at noon on Tuesday, May 31st. Good Luck!